Some Tips On How To Navigate Mad March

Are you overwhelmed with the choices that the Adelaide Fringe, the Adelaide Festival, Adelaide Writers’ Week and Womadelaide present? Not to worry, Adelaide ArtBeat is on a mission to help unearth some of the best shows on. We’re sending out our reviewers to as many shows as we are able, just so we can share our picks with you.

But as you can see, we’re a dedicated team of TEN arts, dance, theatre, cabaret and comedy lovers. We’re all volunteers, here for the love of the arts. We enjoy sharing our experiences: both here and in social media spheres like Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and Instagram.

We will do our best this Mad March, but I’m going to be completely honest with you, dear reader… We won’t be able to even skim the surface of what’s happening. With over 900 acts during the Adelaide Fringe alone, you can imagine our team would be stretched to attend even 10% of these. So what should you do? Short of opening a hard copy of the Adelaide Fringe guide, twirling your index finger with your eyes closed, then pointing to a random spot on the page, you might just be s**t out of luck.

Or are you?

If you’re an avid Twitter user (or want to be or are looking for the excuse to “join the conversation”), then we suggest you follow the #adlfringe and #adlfest hashtags. That way, you’re able to interact with the official Twitter accounts for each of these festivals (@adelaide_fringe + @adelaidefest respectively), as well as the artists/producers/companies/publicists for shows plus reviewers from all publications. More importantly, you’ll also be able to interact with other punters – people just like you! Honestly, this is the best way to see what’s popular, what’s disappointing, what’s underrated and so forth. We’ve started assembling Twitter lists to help you too…

If Facebook is more your thing, then ask your mates. Pose a question like “What shows should I see this crazy season?” as your next status update, and I guarantee that at least one of your friends will know someone who is in an show or at least be able to recommend another… after all, this is the city of two degrees of separation!

[Ed's Note: You're almost through - there's still less written here than in all those guides! ]

Foursquare is only useful when you’re actually out and about. When you check-in to a venue (e.g. La Boheme), there may be a useful tip left behind relating to food, drink or shows. You may also receive notifications of other tips left by your friends at nearby venues.

Instagram is great if you’re a) an iPhone user and b) want to enrich your posts by sharing vintage-looking photos. There isn’t really much help here if you’re looking for show recommendations.

That’s all from me for now, have a fantastic festival season – and whatever you do, try something different.